Feds launch tax probe of Yankees executive

The federal government is investigating David Szen, the Yankees' traveling secretary, on allegations of tax evasion, team officials said tonight.

The Yankees said Szen would take an indefinite leave of absence from the team. Multiple team officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they didn't want to be perceived as interfering with a federal investigation, said the reason was an IRS investigation of Szen for alleged failure to declare income for tax purposes.

"We understand that the government is investigating personal tax issues regarding David Szen," Yankees spokesman Howard Rubenstein said in a statement. "The Yankees have cooperated with that inquiry. David Szen has requested and has been granted administrative leave."

Szen has been with the Yankees since the early 1990s and is in charge of all of the team's travel and hotel arrangements. Yankees officials said the investigation was a personal affair for Szen and not connected with the team or Major League Baseball in general.

Other behind-the-scenes baseball figures have come under federal investigation in recent months. Kirk Radomski, a former Mets batboy and clubhouse worker, pleaded guilty in April to distributing performance-enhancing drugs to major league baseball players during the 1990s.

And earlier this month, the New York Post reported that the IRS was investigating clubhouse workers, who get paid mainly in cash tips from players, for failure to report income for tax purposes.